The Los Angeles Dodgers avoided arbitration with Yency Almonte, Walker Buehler, Caleb Ferguson, Brusdar Graterol, Dustin May, Evan Phillips, Will Smith, Trayce Thompson and Julio Urías, but failed to agree to terms with Tony Gonsolin ahead of the January 13 deadline.
Gonsolin reportedly filed for a $3.4 million salary while the Dodgers countered at $3 million. MLB Trade Rumors projected the right-hander would receive a $3.5 million salary for the 2023 season.
Gonsolin and the Dodgers are permitted to continue negotiating after the deadline to exchange salary figures, but president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman historically has taken a “file and trial” approach since joining the organization in 2014.
According to Ronald Blum of the Associated Press, players who didn’t reach agreements with their teams are having their arbitration cases heard from January 30 through February 17:
Arbitration-eligible players who don’t reach agreements will have their cases heard by three-person panels in St. Petersburg, Florida, from Jan. 30 through Feb. 17.
The Dodgers have had just two arbitration hearings under Friedman, both of which came in 2020, when the team won their case over Joc Pederson but lost to Pedro Báez. Those were the first arbitration hearings for the Dodgers since defeating Joe Beimel in 2007.
A total of 170 players agreed to contracts in the hours prior to the January 14. There were 33 players that didn’t agree to terms with their respective teams and appeared headed toward a hearing.
Tony Gonsolin arbitration outlook
As Gonsolin faces the prospect of an arbitration hearing, it’s plausible that could be avoided by coming to terms with the Dodgers on a multi-year contract.
Such occurred when the Dodgers initially failed to avoid arbitration with Max Muncy and Chris Taylor, Walker Buehler and Austin Barnes. Each of the four subsequently signed a multi-year contract to avoid a hearing.
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